CAT 2019 Question Paper PDF (Available): Download Free!
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
Read all about CAT 2019 question paper including difficulty level, topic-wise weightage, RC topics for both slot 1 and slot 2 exam. Also download CAT question paper 2019 for free.
CAT 2019 question paper was released by IIM Kozhikode for slot 1 and slot 2 on November 29. The questions papers were accompanied by official answer keys and question-wise solutions. Candidates preparing for CAT exam must go through the CAT previous year question paper to know the difficulty level of the questions, marking scheme and change in exam pattern if any. In this article, you will get CAT question paper 2019 PDF for free download along with analysis of both slot 1 and slot 2 papers. Read on.
The structure of CAT question paper 2019 is same as that of question papers of previous years as the CAT exam pattern has not changed in the last five years. The difficulty level and topic-wise weightage of questions were different from previous years, though. Take a look at the break-up of CAT 2019 question paper of slot 1 below:
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- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 2
- Free CAT Mock Test for Practice
CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
The question paper of CAT 2019 was divided into three sections having both MCQs and non-MCQs. The number of MCQs were more in all the sections and apart from VARC questions, all were of easy to moderate difficulty level.
Solving the CAT question paper is very important from preparation point of view. Since CAT is a speed based test where candidates have to read long passages, tables and charts, do multiple calculations and solve tricky puzzles, one needs to have prior practice of the same. The CAT mock tests serve this purpose. However, to know what type of passages and puzzles are there in the CAT exam, you need to solve previous years' question papers. Some of the benefits of solving previous years' CAT question paper are:
- With the help of previous year's CAT question paper, you can understand the latest CAT exam pattern and marking scheme
- Practicing CAT question papers improves speed and accuracy in solving the questions, which is critical to a speed based exam like CAT
- Practicing CAT question papers improves time management skills as you would get to know which type of questions take how much time.
- When you practice CAT question papers, you gain confidence that you can solve all types of CAT questions. This confidence helps in performing better in the exam.
| Section |
MCQs |
Non-MCQs |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) |
23 |
11 |
| Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI) |
24 |
8 |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
27 |
7 |
| Total |
74 |
26 |
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CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
Given below is detailed explanation of CAT question paper 2019, slot 1, including section-wise distribution of sections, topics and difficulty level.
VARC section:
The VARC section CAT exam paper 2019 had a total of 34 questions (24 from RC and 10 from VA). There were 5 RC passages of 550-600 words. Four passages had five questions and one passage had four questions. The topics of RC passages were:
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- British Folk Music
- Topophilia
- Emperor Penguins
- Internet Shopping and Choice Anxiety
- Origin of Story of Alladin
The VA section had 4 questions on parajumbles, three on out of context sentence and three on summary. Overall, the difficulty level of VARC was moderate to difficult.
DILR section:
The DILR section of CAT 2019 exam had 32 questions divided into eight sets. Out of eight, six sets were from Logical Reasoning and two sets were on Data Interpretation. Each set had four questions.
Logical Reasoning sets included:
- Linear Arrangement in Super Market
- Archery
- Prizes to be put in 100 boxes
- Coding
- Streets Intersection
- Dancers and Composers
Data Interpretation sets included:
- Bar Chart + Table Crimes in States
- Spider Chart on 5 vendors and 6 attributes
QA section:
The QA section of CAT question paper 2019 was of medium difficulty level. In total, it has 34 questions, out of which, 13 were easy, 13-15 were medium and 6-8 were difficult. This section had maximum number of TITA questions (11). The questions were from the following topics.
CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the test are able to access the CAT question paper and answer key. The question paper of every slot is released on the same day along with candidate response sheet and official answer to all question. If any candidate needs previous year CAT question papers for preparation purpose, then they can download them from Shiksha website. We have hosted last five years' CAT question papers for aspirants to download and practice. These official CAT question papers are available for download free. You can download the CAT question paper PDFs at this link: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/cat-exam-question-papers Candidates must check and practice the latest CAT question paper to know the latest exam pattern and difficulty level.
The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.
CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.
| QA topics |
Number of Questions |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
13 |
| Modern Math |
8 |
| Geometry |
7 |
| Algebra |
5 |
| Total |
34 |
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Student Forum
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With a 300 SC category rank in CAT, your chances for NIT Trichy MBA are relatively high. Based on 2025 data, NIT Trichy generally shortlists SC candidates with CAT percentiles around 60-65. To achieve a 300 rank under SC category, you would need about a 65-70 percentile, or a score of roughly 60-65
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Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68.
The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.